Description

Antonin Dvorak was the first major European composer to take up a prolonged residency in the United States. His stay here affected not only the American musical scene but also his own compositional style. Ivanov retraces Dvorak’s journeys in America and takes into account certain documents that either were not used in earlier biographies or were available only in Czech. The book contains a large number of photographs, many of which come from the Dvorak museum. The translation provides a delightful read.

Ivanov does not simply summon the existing facts; rather, he seeks to open new passages into the very soul of the great genius and to search within for a true account of his creative workmanship. I treasure [Ivanov’s] book as the best work ever written about Dvorak.

—Frantisek Smetana

Contents

List of Illustrations
Foreword, by Vaclav NeumannForeword, by Frantisek SmetanaEditor's Preface
Acknowledgments
Translator's Notes
Prologue
Adagio
Journey ~ A
Journey ~ B
First Steps ~A
First Steps ~ B
First Weeks ~ A
First Weeks ~ B
Symphony From the New World ~ A
Symphony From the New World ~ B
Going to Spillville ~ A
Going to Spillville ~ B
American Vacation ~ A
American Vacation ~ B
Life in Chicago ~ A
Life in Chicago ~ B
Pilgrimage ~ A
Pilgrimage ~ B
Victory ~ A
Victory ~ B
Return ~ A
Return ~ B
Epilogue
Appendix: Antonin Dvorak's Family
About the Author
Sources
Index

Authors

Stania Slahor, the translator and author, was born in Czechoslovakia where besides an education in music she received a master's degree in literature and fine arts. In 1968, she and her family left their Communist-controlled country and immigrated to Canada. Throughout her life, in addition to teaching and painting, she has published poems; short stories; education articles; translation of Miroslav Ivanov's work In Dvorak's Footsteps; and two collections of her poetry Mercurial Journeys and Lingering Echoes.

She and her husband live in London, Ontario, Canada, and spend winters in Florida and Yucatan, Mexico.

"The Beginner’s Cow: Memories of a Volga German from Kansas" by Loren Schmidtberger— At the age of seven, Loren Schmidtberger was assigned to a beginner’s cow—the gentlest cow in the herd and the easiest for a child just beginning to milk. As he learned to milk with the help of the cow, he also learned the art of living from the unforgiving reality of the Dust Bowl years tempered by the steadfast resilience of his Volga German community.